My new Prog / Post-rock album - featuring members of Big Big Train, Caligula's Horse, Wobbler, iamthemorning, and Neal Morse Band

[SuicideSquid]

Hi guys,

I have a new album out today - 'A Voyage / A Destination' - it's a mix of symphonic progressive rock and more modern post-rock music. There are two prog epics - "Pool of the Naiads" featuring Eric Gillette of Neal Morse Band on lead vocals and guitar, with Lars Fredrik Frøislie of Wobbler on hammond organ, and Voyage, featuring Jim Grey of Caligula's Horse and Marjana Semkina of iamthemorning on lead vocals, and Nick D'Virgilio of Big Big Train and Spock's Beard on drums and chromatic percussion.

There are two shorter instrumental post-rock songs as well, Sea of Vapours and Lantern Season, featuring just the band and no special guests.

You can find links to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Bandcamp, etc. at our linktree at http://www.versa-music.com

For those interested in this kind of thing, the album (except for guests) was recorded in a home studio using a Focusrite Clarett 4Pre interface, JLM Baby Animal preamps, a mix of Warm Audio, Michael Joly, and MicParts microphones (plus shure mics for your standard dynamic mic applications), and was mixed and engineered by me at 24/96 using Reaper DAW, and mastered by Brock at CPS Mastering in Vancouver.

Lars' hammond organ was recorded by Lars in his studio in Norway using an original vintage leslie cabinet. Nick D'Virgilio was recorded in Sweetwater's studio in Indiana, Eric Gillette was recorded in his home studio, and Marjana and Jim were both recorded in studios in their respective home towns in the UK and Australia respectively.

Honestly, I've never worked harder on anything in my entire life and I'm really proud of it. Hope you give it a listen!

 

[NiagaraPete]

You kidding fing awesome! Listening right now.

 

[Doodski]

It's good. A bit mellow for me as I listen to pop, rock, some rap, progressive rock like Rush and Queensryche, hard rock and little of anything else. The opening was a bit Yes'ishy and the album cover is cool in a thought producing way. For a home brew production it's very good and the musicianship is very good too. Add in some soaring crying electric guitars and I would be all over this like white on rice.

 

[SuicideSquid]

It's good. A bit mellow for me as I listen to pop, rock, some rap, progressive rock like Rush and Queensryche, hard rock and little of anything else. The opening was a bit Yes'ishy and the album cover is cool in a thought producing way. For a home brew production it's very good and the musicianship is very good too. Add in some soaring crying electric guitars and I would be all over this like white on rice.

First track, Pool, has some amazing soloing by Eric Gillette around the 3 minute mark and a gorgeous soaring part toward the end. The album-closing epic, Voyage, gets pretty heavy after the intro so stick with it... lots happens in a 26-minute song!

 

[Doodski]

First track, Pool, has some amazing soloing by Eric Gillette around the 3 minute mark and a gorgeous soaring part toward the end. The album-closing epic, Voyage, gets pretty heavy after the intro so stick with it... lots happens in a 26-minute song!

lol... I'll try it again.

 

[Doodski]

I'm finished with the first track and the bass is very sensitive at the PEQ controls and I'm using Sennheiser HD 598SR. Never have bass issues with any other song. Yes, you are correct in that the first track is intended to be listened to in it's entirety. It's very good and had me very involved at times. Onto track 2....>

 

[NiagaraPete]

I started had to put it down company arrived.

 

[Doodski]

Track 4 ... Really good @ the beginning is the layering of the musical instruments and vocals. ~35:28 had a excellent drum roll that had zero issues with the headphone driver unlike the track 1 drum issue. The end part of track was a bit too slow for me. So I skipped through it and sampled little bits.

 

[SuicideSquid]

Track 4 ... Really good @ the beginning is the layering of the musical instruments and vocals. ~35:28 had a excellent drum roll that had zero issues with the headphone driver unlike the track 1 drum issue. The end part of track was a bit too slow for me. So I skipped through it and sampled little bits.

Thanks for the comment re: the bass peak on Pool of the Naiads. I'll forward that to the mastering engineer, it may be something we can correct. We actually recorded a double album's worth of material and part 2 is coming in early 2023 so I'll make sure it's sorted for that release.

Much appreciate all your comments and really appreciate you taking a second listen - glad you enjoyed it!

 

[Doodski]

@SuicideSquid might as well post the YouTube video of it here.

 

[SuicideSquid]

Today we released a motion comic video for the prog epic "Pool of the Naiads" featuring Eric Gillette (from Neal Morse Band) and Lars Froislie (from Wobbler): https://youtu.be/xuyWsNRC2KA

Pool of the Naiads is a very special song for me. I've always wanted to write a "real" progressive rock song, after including some proggy bits here and there in other Versa material, but never had the patience or the confidence to write it. When we decided in late 2020 that we were going to do another Versa album, I thought it was time. I've always loved the 70s prog of bands like Jethro Tull, Genesis, King Crimson, Yes, and Gentle Giant. More recently, around 2016, I discovered the world of neo-prog and progressive metal, and started listening to many newer bands and artists like Haken, Caligula's Horse, Neal Morse Band, Big Big Train, Spock's Beard, Wobbler, iamthemorning, and many more.

The song is inspired by those classic bands, but also very much by Neal Morse, both musically, and because his personal story became a real inspiration to me when I started to write and arrange this song. In his 20s, Neal tried to make a go of it in the 80s LA alternative rock scene, with little success. By the time he was in his 30s, he was almost ready to give up on music, but tried his hand at writing a prog song, which became "The Light" from Spock's Beard's first album, and launched him into a long and incredibly productive career in that world. For me, when Versa didn't really take off ten years ago, I thought my time making music might be done, but here I am, in my 30s, releasing the progressive rock song I feel like I always had inside me.

The song is about seeing the good in people, and not being afraid to challenge yourself and try new things. Never fear to brave the unknown - we'll be there, you won't be alone.
https://youtu.be/xuyWsNRC2KA?fbclid=IwAR23pGZNVsb_RMJbypcbSEvHydCPLur2HmCp_QfRJVW71-e5mun-MYDmDT4

 

[Doodski]

Posting the YouTube link for easy access.

 

[Mnyb]

Quite nice I seems to like songs 2,3,4 better , I’ll keep on listening as this kind of music does not “sit” the first listen.
Unless your a complete prog head have a colleague who would like as he has basically everything Yes ever did

 

[SuicideSquid]

Hey guys, just wanted to bump this and to note that PROG MAGAZINE's readers' poll is now open.

You can vote by sending an e-mail with the subject "Readers' Poll 2022".

If you enjoyed our album and want to give us a vote in the "Best Unsigned Band" category, we'd be incredibly grateful.

Here's my ballot for reference:

BEST BAND
Porcupine Tree

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Versa - "A Voyage / A Destination"

FEMALE VOCALIST
Marjana Semkina

MALE VOCALIST
Jim Grey

GUITARIST
Eric Gillette

BASSIST
Pete Trewavas

KEYBOARD PLAYER
Lars Fredrik Frøislie

DRUMMER
Nick D'Virgilio

REISSUE OF THE YEAR
Jethro Tull - Benefit

EVENT OF THE YEAR
Cruise to the Edge Returns!

BEST UNSIGNED BAND
Versa